Team GB 0 Brazil 2: Pearce's youngsters outclassed as Neymar and Sandro light up the Riverside

It was the first glimpse of a Great
Britain Olympic football team for more than 50 years, but most eyes were
on the boys from Brazil at the Riverside Stadium.

If the pre-Olympic friendly was, in
some ways, a throwback to the days when Brian Clough was banging the
goals in down the road at Ayresome Park, the accent was just as much on
the future, as Brazil paraded some of the household names of tomorrow.

Spot on: Neymar doubled Brazil's lead from the spot halfway through the first half

Predictably, they were too good for Stuart Pearce’s side, as Sandro and Neymar gave Brazil a 2-0 first-half lead and the latter player, in particular, began to exhibit the full range of his extravagant skills in the second period.

There were some encouraging moments for Pearce, as Joe Allen shone in midfield and Micah Richards went close with an early header. The most encouraging point of all, though, may just be the realisation that his side will meet few, if any, better sides than Brazil when the tournament itself begins.

Seldom can a pre-season friendly have generated such interest, with the first appearance of a GB Olympic football team since 1960 being beamed live across the nation by the BBC and a 20,000-plus crowd packed into a stadium bathed in late-evening sunshine.

It is unlikely too many have boasted such an expensive array of talent, either, with the market value of the Brazil team alone conservatively estimated at above £300million.

Spurred on: Tottenham midfielder Sandro opened the scoring for the Brazilians

At least four of them are prime targets
for some of the bigger spenders in the Barclays Premier League, with
Ganso, Lucas, Hulk and Leandro Damiao all attracting interest and
drawing a larger than usual turnout of scouts to Teesside. With Oscar
also agreeing to join Chelsea for £25m, Pearce’s side looked to be up
against it.

As the first half unfolded, though, it was a potential
domestic transfer that appeared to make most sense. Liverpool’s former
Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers is doing his utmost to lure Allen to
Merseyside from South Wales, and it was easy to see why as the busy
midfielder squared up to Neymar more than once and came out on top each
time.

Refusing to be taken in by a typically elaborate Neymar trick in only
the fifth minute, the 22-year-old earned cheers all round, as the most
coveted talent in Brazilian football lost possession and resorted to
fouling the GB midfielder.

If Allen was making the most of his opportunity to shine, the mere sight
of Daniel Sturridge leading the attack was just as heartening,
following his recent bout of meningitis. He looked none the worse for
it, either, as he gave his marker Marcelo the runaround with a turn of
pace that looked as destructive as ever.

For whom the Bell tolls: The Welsh striker could do little to stop the Brazilian attacks

GB could hardly hope to keep the shackles on Neymar, though, and after
blazing carelessly over with just Jason Steele to beat in the sixth
minute, he began to make his mark.

Taking charge of a free-kick that two of his team-mates were showing an
interest in, his 12th-minute delivery from the right flank curled
invitingly across the edge of the six-yard area for Sandro to steal in
at the far post and head home.

GB might have equalised in the 15th minute, but for Thiago Silva being
perfectly placed to clear off the line after Micah Richards met Ryan
Giggs’s far-post free-kick with a goalbound header.

Pleasing on the eye as they are, there is a darker side to Brazilian
football that presented itself in the 32nd minute, as Neymar crashed to
the ground in the area, trying to win a penalty. He may have lost his
footing, but there was little to account for the way he remained flat
out and began rubbing the back of his head after finally climbing to his
feet.

Flying the flag: Pearce has plenty to ponder with just a matter of days until Olympics start

The crowd left him in no doubt about what they felt, and the boos were
still ringing out when Richards tripped Hulk from behind and Neymar
stepped up to drill the 35th-minute penalty past Steele. There was a
rebuke from the referee for the way he cupped his ears to the fans
behind the goal, but he scarcely cared.

It underlined the showman in him, and it will doubtless be in evidence often enough over the next few weeks.